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your word oh lord that i would accurately divide your word of truth all of us need your grace as we receive your word oh lord that your word would not fall on stony hearts but that you would soften our hearts to receive your truth that we be transformed more and more into the image of your son by the power of your spirit that sinners would come to you for salvation, and that your people would be built up in your solid word. In Christ's holy name and for his glory, amen. In our Bible study hour, we have been going through the epistle to the Ephesians. And we have arrived at this final exhortation. So the book of Ephesians, as Paul writes many of his epistles, in the first half of the epistle, he brings what we call the doctrine, the truths of Christ, as he expounds and explains them. And then the latter half of the epistle, the last three chapters, is the so what the exhortation in light of these truths therefore you must live this way this is the logical deduction the logical conclusion of this doctrine and so we arrive at ephesians 6 verse 10 and often this piece of scripture this passage of scripture is exegeted interpreted in isolation from the rest of the epistle and i would say that is a wrong way to interpret it that Paul is coming with this finally, it's not finally here's you one added thing, but rather finally as in this is the conclusion of the whole matter of this whole epistle. And so what is this finally that he brings us to in verse 10? In the first three chapters, this great book expounds in chapter one, that our salvation, the election of God's people was not a secondary plan. This was a plan that God had purposed from before the foundation of the world, to glorify his son in the election and salvation of sinners. In chapter 2, what do we see? We see our condition before us coming to Christ, that we were dead in trespasses and sins, that we were without hope in the world, that we were serving Satan, that we were embracing the falsehood of this world, and that, in the mercy of God, He sent His Son, as that great passage says, but God. For it is only by the grace of God that we are brought out of darkness and into this glorious light. And God has created peace. He has created peace, as chapter 2 explains, not just between us and God, but also between one another. He has broken down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. And then in chapter three, Paul says his role in redemptive history, that his role to the Ephesians, that he came as an ambassador of Christ to bring this good news, to bring this salvation news to those in Ephesus. And indeed, as Paul is instrumental in the writing of the scriptures, to bring salvation even to us. So then in chapter four, he gets to the so what. He says, so what, in light of what God has done, in light of what Christ has done, maintain the unity of the spirit, maintain the unity that has been created by Christ, by the power of his spirit, that he has given us his spirit and we are called to maintain it. He's not told us to look out into the world and create unity. He says, maintain the unity that Christ has given us. He says, walk as children of God, because we're no longer children of Satan. That if you are a believer in Christ, you are now made an adopted child of God. That you are a brother, as it were, of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says he's not ashamed, in the epistle to the Hebrews, he's not ashamed to call us brothers. And then in Ephesians 5, He explains that this implications of the gospel, this implications of the work of Christ doesn't simply remain in the church and in our unity in the church, but it also affects our own life. He says, wives are called to submit to their husbands. Husbands are called to love their wives. And then in chapter 60 continues that exhortation. Children are called to obey their parents. Parents are called to raise their children and nurture an admonition of the Lord. And yes, even slaves are called to obey their masters, and masters are called to govern their slaves with care, generosity, and love. So he brings all of these exhortations, the effect of this gospel, and then he comes to this. Finally, my brethren. And he goes into the armor of God, spiritual warfare. So how does he connect these two? How does he connect the previous to this? He's saying, in light of what Christ has done, in light of your calling, it's gonna be war. It is going to be a fight. You have an enemy who opposes you. You have the flesh, the world, and as he explains in this chapter, you have the devil. You have the devil and his forces. So as an overview, as we think about spiritual warfare, it's very important that we understand that there's so much misunderstanding in this subject. I mean, you go to a Christian book and you'll find the idea of but rebuking Satan, binding devils, exorcisms, praying hedges over people, and yet, when Paul speaks of spiritual warfare, he says nothing of this. He speaks of righteousness. He speaks of salvation. He speaks of faith. He speaks of the word of God. He speaks of the gospel of peace. And this, this should instruct us of what is spiritual warfare. So verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. He's telling us that this warfare, before we even get started, as we discuss this warfare, we must remember that we do not do it on our own strength. If we come in here and we think we're Rambo, and we think we can't do the Christian life by ourselves, we just pull ourselves up by our brief straps, Paul says, no. He says, you do it by the power of God, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, put on the whole armor of God, The armor comes from God, it's not our armor, it's armor that God has given us because of the work of Christ. That you may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil. So our goal, we are to be strong in the Lord. He's the one who gives us strength. We are to take on the armor of God. And what is the end goal? What is the goal? Is it to take the city? Is it to make a bunch of decisions? Is it to reach the political realm? Is it to reach the artistic realm? Is it to reach the scientific realm? No, he says to stand. He says that you may be able to stand. In our modern evangelical world, being faithful, standing, is the most boring thing you can ask someone. If you tell a husband, you're a husband who says, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? And now that I'm a Christian, and you tell him, be faithful to your wife, that's boring. You tell the child, what do I need to do now that I'm a Christian? You say, obey your parents. And the immediate reaction is, that's boring. And yet Paul says, that is what the enemy is seeking to bring us right into. The enemy would have us to do all sorts of activities. It'd have us to do all sorts of things in the name of for Jesus and yet fall. in our home life, fall in the truths of the gospel and just have activity as a surface. And so Paul says, we need this armor. We need this armor that we may be able to stand, stand against the tides of this world. And as he says in verse 12, stand against the devil. He says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, As I said in the Bible study last time, this idea of wrestling, it's a change of metaphors. He goes from the war analogy, the war metaphor, to wrestling, to the athletic realm. And I think the idea here for Paul is to point out the constancy of this, that we don't rest. In wrestling, if you're in a wrestling match, you don't stop to take a breather. You stop to take a breather, and then you're in a lock, and you've lost. This wrestling is also close quarters. It's not fought at a distance. It's not fought with guns. It's not fought with a sniper rifle. It's fought hand-to-hand, close combat. It's not a distance fight. He says, we wrestle. Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood. And what he's saying there, he's not saying that in no sense do we not wrestle against flesh and blood. Paul was persecuted by the Jews. Paul was eventually beheaded by the Roman Empire. Christians have historically been persecuted by political governments. The church has been historically persecuted by people, indeed by flesh and blood, and harmed in their flesh and blood. He's not saying that in no sense is our fight against, not against flesh and blood, he's saying it's not merely against flesh and blood. that we have to wake up to this reality. We live in a post-enlightenment world in which all the causes are simply natural causes. Every opposition to Christianity is simply a political, ideological motivation, simply a change in philosophy, simply different natural causes. And Paul's saying, no. The scriptures, the Holy Spirit through Paul would say, there's something spiritual going on in this combat. and we must wake up to it. We must as individuals and as a church be aware that this government and in our personal lives, in our work lives, in our family lives, contentions with family members who oppose the gospel of grace, we must realize that this is not simply a physical combat. There is a spiritual dimension to it all. He says, well, our wrestling is not against flesh and blood. It's against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. He is not here to giving us a delineation of devils. He's not saying, okay, here are the various different classes of devils. I think many people have erred when they ventured off to then classify each realm of the angelic host or the demonic host. Rather, he's just pointing out that these aren't physical enemies and he's pointing out that it's a bunch. It's a plethora. It is forces. It is an army. It is a war. So verse 13, therefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand. Because of the nature of the enemy, because we don't simply fight against flesh and blood, because there is a multitude of our enemies, therefore we need this whole armor. That's gonna be the heart of this message, is the armor of God. This is introduction from last time. Take on to the whole armor of God. because of the enemy that you may be able to stand in the evil day." This evil day, he's not talking about the evil days as he spoke of earlier in this epistle, I don't believe, but rather specific moments in the lives of a church and in the lives of individuals in which, as it were, Satan is in rare form, that he is assaulting you or a church in a particular way. This is how often older expositors understood this passage, such as when our Lord tells Peter to watch and pray unless you enter into temptation. It's often understood that this temptation that Peter is to watch and pray against is not the temptation that James says that we should rejoice when we enter, but rather a specific moment in which Satan's assaults are more evident and clear and on us than in other times. Often it can happen when, in various different situations, either a loss of a loved one, or a particular trial you're going through, or when a man is particularly tempted with lust or the thought of adultery. Such things are the evil day. And he's saying this, we've always seen this armor. but also specifically that we may be able to withstand in those days of temptation, in those specific trials in which Satan is assaulting us. And again, what is the goal? It's not to rebuke Satan and throw him out. It's to be found faithful, to stand in that day, to stand in that evil day, to be standing in the truth of God, to be standing in what you're calling as a Christian and not to falter by the grace of God. So now, verse 14, we move on to the armor. Often there are two ways people interpret the armor, either subjectively or objectively. Subjectively would interpret the belt of truth as sincerity. It's our truthfulness. The breastplate of righteousness as our ethical life, our righteousness. And so that so that the shoes of the gospel are us preaching the gospel to ourselves and there's merit to these understandings but I think the main idea is enough, objectively, that this truth is not our truth, it's God's truth. This righteousness is not our righteousness, it's Christ's righteousness, and it's an objective one because it's the armor of God, it's what we stand with, and as we elaborate on this armor, we'll see the importance of why we're not to rely on ourselves, we're not to rely on our truthfulness, our sincerity, but on the truthfulness of God and the righteousness of Christ. So he says, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. What is it to have the loins girt about with truth? Well, the truth would be what? It's the truth of God. It's the truth of scripture. It's the truth that Paul expounded in the first three chapters. What he's saying is that we are to girt about our loins, this belt of truth, is that it's not simply to remain a notional belief. We're not simply to hold these truths of Christ, this truth of our confession, the confession of our faith. We're not to hold the doctrine of election, the doctrine of a particular redemption, the doctrine of justification by faith simply out there in a notional philosophical realm. But we are to bring it and meditate on it and apply it to our own souls. and that we are to take this truth and gird it about us, that when the combat comes, it's not simply this philosophy that we held to. but it is the truth of God applied to our own souls. This is done as we read the scriptures. As we read the scriptures, we don't simply say, this is a nice history book, or this is a nice mental exercise, but we apply it to us. We make sure that we don't just leave it there. When we hear a sermon, it's so easy just to come to a sermon and think, here's new information, here's not new information. And often we judge a sermon simply based on whether or not I learned something new. It's important to understand these are not lectures. This is the truth of God and we are called to apply it to our own souls. Whether it's new or whether it's bringing to our remembrance, we are called today to apply it. This is not simply a passive act as we hear the word of God. We are to apply it. We are to gird it about. We are to apply it to our lives. and having the breastplate of righteousness. Again, as I spoke before, this breastplate is not something new. It's something that's mentioned in the scriptures in Isaiah 59, verse 17. speaking of God and speaking of the coming of the Messiah and he saw verse 50 chapter 59 of Isaiah chapter 16 if you wish to turn there and he saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor therefore his arm brought salvation unto them and his righteousness is sustained him for he put on righteousness as a breastplate and the helmet of salvation upon his head And he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with a zeal as a cloak. And that passage of Isaiah is important to understand all the armor, is that as we see there, he wears both the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness. And this armor, this armor of God is also the armor of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the armor of our Messiah. And we are taking it on to him in our union with him. And so this righteousness that we are to put around our chest to protect our vitals is not our upstanding lives. If that is against the wiles of the devil, if that's against the accusations of Satan, see how long that will last you. When Satan accuses you, when Satan brings a guilty conscience to your mind and you say, I'm living a pretty good life, I'm okay. See how long that lasts. No, we need something more solid than our own righteousness. We need the righteousness of Christ. That righteousness that was reckoned unto Abraham, that his faith was reckoned unto him as righteousness, that righteousness of Christ, so that when Satan would bring accusations to us, when Satan would tell us, you're a lousy Christian, You don't say, well, I'm going to try harder. I'm going to live a better life. No, you say, you're right. but I have a gracious master who hath clothed me with his armor, clothed me with his righteousness, clothed me with his, my acceptance comes from him. My acceptance comes because he died for me. He lived for me. This is the righteousness that will protect us against the wiles of Satan. This is the righteousness that we must stand with, not our own righteousness. And yes, it has implications as we are united to Christ. As if we take onto his righteousness for our justification, we also take on his spirit for our sanctification. so that we then live a life that is according to his righteousness. But when we are attacked by Satan, when we are attacked by the devil, when we are attacked by other accusations, we must remember our standing, our acceptance with God is not based on our performance. It's based on that righteousness that comes alone from Christ. Defeat, in verse 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Some have interpreted this as preaching the gospel to yourself, and that is very important, that we must remember that when we do struggle, when we do have temptation, we must remember what we first believe, and we must remember the gospel. However, I think this idea, as it is elaborated in Ephesians, indeed in Galatians said this standing this your feet shod is not you running quickly it's you standing firm in the gospel that you believed in the beginning this gospel he describes it as a gospel of peace in Ephesians 2 specifically Paul elaborates what sort of peace this is he says that brethren I apologize that in Ephesians 2 He says, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. What is it to be a children of wrath as being children, who our only inheritance is the wrath of God? And so, first, we were children of wrath. We were children destined for destruction. We were enmity with God. And so this gospel of peace first comes, and that God, sending his son to die in our place, makes peace. And that our acceptance is not based on us, it's based on the work of Christ. But further, he elaborates that Christ is our peace in Ephesians 2.14. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. And so, it's called the gospel of peace also, not only because we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, but also that we have peace with one another. And you see in the epistle to the Galatians, the Galatians, when Paul says they fall from grace, it's not that they They fall because they sinned in the sense that they sinned out of the grace of God. No, we're falling from grace is because they began to depend on their own works and on circumcision. And that if you want to be a real spiritual Christian, if you want to be really accepted by God, if you really want to be pleasing of God, you have to be circumcised. That's what Paul means that they fell from grace. And so to stand in this gospel is to truly stand that our acceptance, Our acceptance with one another is not based on our skin color. It's not based on whether or not we've been circumcised or not circumcised. Our acceptance is based on Christ and to stand in that unity of the spirit that he has purchased, not based on anything else. And this particularly is being attacked in our own day through various social justice movements that your acceptance and your closeness to God is based on your skin color, especially as it's brought forth in America and affecting many churches today. Paul says, now you're to stand firm that our acceptance is not based on anything. It's not based on what a white, black, Asian, or whatever. It's based only on what Christ has done. Only in what he has done. And we are to stand in that unity and live that unity out. Not capitulate to the culture. Not capitulate to what is pleasing in the world's eyes. We are to stand firm in the gospel of peace. moves on saying above all taking the shield of faith now that above all taking in the Greek that verb is not just talking about the shield of faith it's talking about the latter three pieces of the armor it's above all taking the shield of faith the helmet of salvation and the sword of the sphere so this above all many have interpreted, and I think rightly so, he's making a contrast between the former three pieces of armor and the latter three pieces of armor, and he's using this analogy of the armor of a soldier. So a soldier, what would he do? He would put his belt on, he'd put his breastplate on, and he'd have his his greaves on, he'd have his shoes on, those he would not take off. And yet, in the thick of battle, what would he do? He'd take his sword, his shield, and his helmet. And so Paul is making a contrast from the general armor that we always have on, but then in particular occasions, particular assaults, we are to take on the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. And so he's saying, when those specific assaults come, when the fiery darts of Satan come, put these on, fight the good fight. And that's what he means by above all. But regardless, whether he's making a difference or not is not vital to the interpretation of this passage. It says, above all, taking the shield of faith. So the question, once again, is this subjective faith? Is this our faith? Or is this the faith, in the sense of the objective creed of the Christian faith? And we use that terminology in English, just as they do in the scriptures. And as I pointed out, I think the objective tends towards a more likely answer. Even if you take this objective, if it's your faith, your faith is only as good as its object. And so when we take on the shield of faith, it's not by flexing a certain muscle to make our faith stronger. Taking on the shield of faith is believing the truths that have already been revealed. And in growing our faith, is growing in our understanding of what God has done. Growing in our understanding of the character of God. You wanna have greater faith in God? Look at his loving kindness towards you. You wanna have greater faith in the work of Christ? Look at the cross of Christ. Look at the ascension of Christ. If you want to have greater faith in the return of Christ, look at the scriptures as they expound that. grow in our understanding of faith. So when Satan would bring accusations, when Satan would cause us to doubt through his darts of the second coming of our Lord, or cause us to doubt of the goodness of God and his fidelity to us, cause us to doubt of the love of Christ, we are to look in the scriptures, look in the truth of God to see who he really is and to trust him as he has revealed himself to be. And that is what quenches the fiery darts. It's not by flexing muscles, it's not by trying harder to have more faith, but the believing what God has already revealed and growing in our understanding of it. Verse 17, and take on the helmet of salvation. What is this helmet of salvation? Often in our modern context, we think of salvation as the first time you've believed. justification have you been saved and the scriptures speak of salvation in that way as well however in the scriptures the term salvation is much broader and it's been said that salvation in the scriptures have three tenses I have been saved I am being saved and I will be saved And that also correlates to justification, sanctification, and glorification. That we have been saved from the guilt of sin, then in sanctification we are gradually being delivered as we have definitively once but gradually delivered from the power of sin. And glorification when we will be delivered from the presence of sin altogether. So there are three understandings of salvation. So, as far as putting on the helmet of salvation for justification, well, he already implies that to take on the armor, you have to be a believer. You have to already know God. And so I don't think it's implying that aspect of sanctification or justification. But rather, I think it's in the way of 1 Thessalonians 5, where again, he uses the helmet analogy and he says, take on salvation, take on hope, the hope of salvation as a helmet. And so it's a hope of salvation. so that this idea of salvation, the helmet of salvation is that final glorification, that final deliverance from the presence of sin, that final coming of Christ. And so when we are tempted to despair, when we are tempted to doubt the coming of Christ, when we are tempted to doubt the progress of the gospel in this day and age as we see our culture going deeper and deeper into sin, we must take on that helmet of salvation that Christ is not done. He is going to return. He is going to deliver his bride. And we're gonna see that elaborated in the book of Revelation as Pastor Robert goes through it. That is the hope of salvation, that Christ does care for his bride and he will vindicate her. His people. He will bring judgment upon this world. And we are to take on that hope, knowing that we can't despair. We must remember that God is faithful. Christ is faithful. And again, in our personal lives, when we are tempted to despair in our own progress and sanctification, we must remember that there will be a day in which Christ will deliver us from the whole presence of sin. And that our struggles today are just temporary. We must remember when we are tempted to despair with the loss of a loved one, that the sorrows of this world are but temporary, that there will be a day in which Christ will wipe away every tear, that Christ will right every wrong. We must take on the truth of that salvation. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Word of God here is not always the same Greek word that is used. There's two Greek words that are used, logos and rhema, and some people make a great distinction between the two. There is not a great distinction between the two, but there is a nuance between the two. And so this Word of God, which would be the Greek word rhema, has the idea of specific utterances rather than the general truth that we are to gird about our waste. And so, how do we do battle with the word of God is going to specific scriptures in the assault. When we doubt of the love of God, we remember that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. When we feel our own lack of love to God, we remember 1 John 4, it says, herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us. When we are tempted to that sin of Whether it's looking at pornography or being angry with our spouse, we remember that no adulterer shall enter into the kingdom of God. We take the scriptures and we apply it to our situation, apply it to where we're at and what we specifically need at that moment. and bring the truth of God to our souls. When we are struggling with prayer, we remember the parable. Our Lord said that if a wicked judge would hear a widow who persisted, how much more would your heavenly Father hear you being redeemed by Christ? And so this sword of the Spirit is to be fought. This fight is to be fought with the sword of the Spirit, specific utterances of scripture. And then verse 18 through 20, he then moves on to prayer. And I still think he's still applying it to the army, still applying it to this warfare, that we are to pray always with all prayers in the spirit. Praying always, he doesn't mean that we're to walk around in the sense of we're not to do anything else but pray. And I don't think he's always saying being in a prayerful spirit, which often is said, but rather the general way of our living. We are known in our own lives as people of prayer. We are people who pray, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. whether he is saying for emphasis with all prayer, as often it is common in Hebraism, is to say praying in prayer and emphasizing the importance of prayer in this, or whether he's saying all sorts of prayer. Whether it's a short prayer as Nehemiah, as he approaches the king, and he just prays briefly before he answers the king, or it's the long prayers that you read of in the book of Daniel, or later in the book of Nehemiah, as he's praying to God. Whether it's short prayer or long prayer, whether it's intercession, whether it's adoration, whether it's thanksgiving, we are to pray to God with all sorts of prayer. and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. As often is tied, as our Lord exhorted Peter, watch and pray. We're not simply just praying, we are supposed to be aware of what's going on, aware of various temptations in our lives, and we're called to pray. with an alertness, with an alertness of the combat, with an alertness of what is going on in our culture, and in our own lives, and in our church life. Being aware, being watchful, and persevering, because that's, he points out persevering, why? Because this is what we struggle with so much. We don't persevere. We begin praying routines and we stop. But if we know that our need of Christ, if we know the dependence that we need, the dependence of us to God, that we depend upon Him, if we know our weakness, then we will perseveringly pray. If we learn more and more how weak we are, we will persevere in prayer. And for all saints, just as he pointed out to the gospel of peace that we have peace with our brothers and sisters because the middle wall of his partition is broken down, we are to pray for all saints. we are to not just pick and choose our favorite. Yes, we are part of a local congregation, we do pray specifically for those in our immediate context, but thinking of the immediate context, you're not supposed to pray, well, I like this brother more than this brother, or I like this sister more than this sister. We are to pray for all of God's people. And indeed we are to pray for God's people in a broader sense. As we pray for missionaries, as we pray for sister churches of our association, we are to pray for all saints. We are to pray for the people of God. And finally, in verses 19 to 20, and for me, for Paul. See, Paul was not Paul, who is so used of God, he spoke how God used him in chapter 3, so used of God, and yet he knew his need of Christ, he knew his need of help. He says, that utterance may be given to me to open my mouth boldly, that I may know the mystery of the gospel. He has spoken In synagogues, he spoke before Herod, he spoke before Festus, Felix, and yet he says, pray for me, pray that I'll be bold. How little do we pray for boldness? And Paul, who was so bold by the Spirit, knew that any boldness that he had was from God. Well, why does he want to be bold? That he may make known this mystery of the gospel. That he may make known this gospel. This is the final portion. It's our prayer, and in this warfare, we are to pray for the proclamation of the word of God. This, as the word is faithfully preached, as the word is proclaimed in church by church, As sinners are called out of their sins and onto a living Savior, this is where warfare happens. It's not primarily happening in the news. It's not primarily happening on the internet, in blog posts, on Facebook, on Twitter, in Fox News or wherever, in the Supreme Court. The war is happening as sinners come to a Savior. as the faith is being deposited from one generation to another, as churches are standing under the word of God, and hearing the word of God, and growing in the truth of God. I'll bring some final applications of this text. First, this armor is for Christians. We must understand that if you're here today and you do not know Christ, you're not in the warfare. Satan is your master. You are a slave to Satan. You are an enemy to God. Your warfare is with the Almighty God. And you don't stand a chance. You are, as Jonathan Edwards said, you are a sinner in the hand of an angry God. And yet, Christ offers you peace. He has died for sinners just as you. And he can forgive you, even today. The forgiveness of Christ is free and yet it costs everything. You must bow your knee before this King. You will bow your knee either today or when he comes. You will bow your knee either in this life or in the Judgment Day, but you will bow before him. You will bow before him as your Lord and Master or as your enemy. And if you bow before him today, if you turn to Christ by the power of his spirit and hearing his call upon your life by his spirit, you will be enlisted. That's the second application, that this warfare, so many of us have heard, and it's been said so many times, you become a Christian, your life is easy. All your problems go away, and in fact, what the scripture says, that's when the difficulty begins. That's when the warfare begins. That's when the struggle begins. And so if you're not here as a believer and you turn to Christ, don't think it's gonna be a bed of roses. It is going to be a fight. And yet you have a gracious general, a gracious Lord who provides you the strength to fight. But also us as Christians, those of us who have believed the truths of the gospel, who have been brought into the family of God, we must be aware that this is not let go and let God, as is often said. that yes, Christ supplies all the strength, but we fight, we war, we don't just coast. We must awaken to this battle because we have an enemy who seeks our destruction. We have an enemy who desires for us to fall, to desire us to make shipwreck of our testimony, shipwreck of our salvation. And then finally, We are called to pray. We are called to pray for the proclamation of the word of God. We are called to pray for the perseverance of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to pray for the perseverance of this church, for the perseverance of the truth of God throughout the world. We must be people of prayer. And that is a crucial part of how this war is fought, is fought on our knees. is fought as we read the word, pray the word, believe the word, and are transformed by his spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your mercy towards us. We thank you that you have had pardon upon your enemies, that we who are dead in our trespasses and sins have been brought to new life in Christ. Oh Lord, awaken us to this combat. Awaken us in this life as a church, this life as individuals. This is not, it's not a coasting, it's not an easy fight. It is war, but we thank you that it is not by our might, not by our power that this battle is won, but it is by the power of you. It is by the power of your spirit. We must remember that Christ has won the fight, and that he has made atonement for his people, and he has promised to bring his people into his presence. Lord, give us grace to stand. Lord, that we would all one day hear good and faithful servant, that we would be found faithful in you, and that we would stir one another up in this warfare, stir one another up in holiness, and that you may receive all the glory and praise. In Christ's holy name,
Ephesians 6:10-18
Series Ephesians
Sermon ID | 8222213442527 |
Duration | 43:54 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | Ephesians 6:10-18 |
Language | English |
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